DAVID "DEIGE" JOHNSON
By Ciana Bowers
David ‘Deige’ Johnson is a senior communications major who started writing music in the seventh and eighth grade. Johnson was a shy kid in school and music was his way of talking to his peers to show that he had a voice. Johnson got his artist name from a childhood nickname. His parents didn’t want to call him DJ because it was “generic” and thus the name Deige was created. Growing up, Johnson listened to a variety of music. His parents listened to Gospel, R&B, and some of today’s hip hop throughout the course of the years which had inspired the sound that he has created for his music.
Johnson’s favorite artist consists of R&B artist Chris Brown and a childhood favorite Usher. When it comes to hip hop, artists like Drake, Jay-Z, Naz, Kanye, and Pharrell. “I’m really into those types of artists because they are usually a jack of all trades. They do multiple things, they don't just do one thing and that’s one thing that stands to me. I’m very versatile in what I do. I wanna make sure that if I can’t do everything I wanna do as much as I can without having to depend on other people and without having to afford to not being able to do certain things because I have to depend on other people to do it for me. So I like being a jack of all trades and I feel like those artists are known for that.” Famous artists are not the only artists that inspires Johnson. While at Widener University, Johnson has met a few other students that have made music, Osei Hubbard class of 2020 and Chris Bunch class of 2018. He still works with these artists to this day and can thank Widener for this because they wouldn’t have met if it wasn’t for Widener’s campus. His fellow classmates have helped him develop as an artist and really push him.
When it comes to making music, Johnson’s favorite part is the process of making music. It may sound Cliche, but Johnson feels it is his favorite since he does most of the production himself which involves mixing and recording, he says. “Just like going into my car and playing it for the first time that’s one of the best feelings, especially when it comes out exactly how I pictured it. Just hearing that and then hearing other people react to my music is the best feeling because I like using my personal experiences and things that I been through other than just rapping and sing about. I do that sometimes but I always know that the songs where I’m talking about my life and situations that I had gone through those are the ones that I love seeing people react to I really do.”
For those people of the Widener community who are interested in making music but don’t know where to start Johnson advises to get what you need and start making music. He says don’t be afraid of other people’s opinions and making music that other people want to listen to. Make what you want and gain your fanbase from there because people will have the same taste of music as you. You don’t want to be too much of a perfectionist to the point where you want your music to be so perfect that you don’t get a chance to put out anything. This is some personal experience from Johnson himself. He advises to start putting out content and being consistent and to be confident because if you don’t listen to your own music then who else is going to listen to it?
Currently Johnson is producing for other artists who are working on projects that will be released sometime this year. Johnson has recently put out a project in beginning of the semester and is working on building his social media and brand. “I’m always trying to be better so people can see the growth instead of staying stagnant and being in one stage and hearing people say they like this song and this song but he hasn’t changed. I want to make sure that people see that evolution in the next few months.”
You can listen to Deige’s music on Spotify, Apple Music, and plenty of other streaming platforms.
